A University of Virginia lecturer and restaurateur has been placed on leave after suggesting the Black Lives Matter movement shares similarities with the Ku Klux Klan.
According to NBC 29 News, engineering and business adjunct professor Douglas Muir likened the movement to the KKK in a Facebook post last Tuesday. His costly post came after BLM co-founder Alicia Garza made an appearance at the Charlottesville university, where she spoke at the “Rooting Out Injustice: Poverty, Race and the Role of Legal Aid” event on the same day as his post.
Muir wrote: “Black lives matter is the biggest rasist organisation [sic] since the clan [sic]. Are you kidding me. Disgusting!!!” His misspelling-laced post made its way to The Cavalier Daily and school officials.
Subsequently, UVA’s Darden School of Business responded to Muir’s comments and denounced his statements. They also distanced themselves from him after their statement.
“Comments made on personal social media sites do not represent the views of the University of Virginia, the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Darden School of Business. U.Va. and the U.Va. Darden School value diversity and inclusion.”
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Muir has been asked to take leave from the university. Since the Oct. 8 report, Charlottesville Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy has called for a boycott of Muir’s restaurant, Bella’s, per NBC 29 News. In addition, Bellamy rebuts Muir’s claims that BLM is the most racist group in America in an interview with the Times-Dispatch.
“How can you compare people standing up for justice to the KKK, who have unapologetically hung many African-Americans? They are outright and blatantly racist. And when you look at Black Lives Matter, that’s white people, Latino people, Asian people and young and old people. It’s a collective call to bring people together to face systemic oppression.”
